low power build advise

[impovich]

Hello, dear community!

I'm seeking advice for my current or upcoming NAS build, given the soaring electricity prices in Europe. I've listed my current setup and potential changes below:

Current Build:

• Chassis: 846BE1C-R1K23B
• MOBO: X12SPL-F
• CPU: Xeon Silver 4310
• RAM: 16x4
• LSI 9300-8i
• PNY Quadro T400
• HDD: 2 x MIRROR 3.64 TiB
• HDD: 1x2TB
• SSD: 1 x MIRROR 223.57 GiB

The current system consumes approximately 145W in idle mode.

Considering Changes:

• X12SDV-4C-SP6F or
• X12STH-F with E-2314

Question: Will either of these proposed changes help lower power consumption?

 

[DigitalMinimalist]

Intel W680 Mainboard (e.g. Supermicro X13SAE) with 13500 is very power efficient at idle AND supports ECC Ram (unbuffered)

 

[impovich]

Intel W680 Mainboard (e.g. Supermicro X13SAE) with 13500 is very power efficient at idle AND supports ECC Ram (unbuffered)

I appreciate your suggestion! Since my rack is placed in the attic, I'm particularly keen on motherboards with IPMI for remote management capabilities and 2/4 LAN ports. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[DigitalMinimalist]

Supermicro X13SAE-F bulk ab € 480,58 (2024) | Preisvergleich Geizhals Deutschland

✔ Preisvergleich für Supermicro X13SAE-F bulk ✔ Produktinfo ⇒ Formfaktor: ATX • Sockel: Intel 1700 • Chipsatz: Intel W680 • CPU-Kompatibilität: Core i-14000 , Core i-1… ✔ Intel Sockel 1700 ✔ Testberichte ✔ Günstig kaufen

geizhals.de

With IPMI and Intel 2.5GBit + 1 Gbit NIC :)

 

[impovich]

Intel W680 Mainboard (e.g. Supermicro X13SAE) with 13500 is very power efficient at idle AND supports ECC Ram (unbuffered)

I found https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/x13sae-f, which has:

• 1 Dedicated IPMI LAN port
• 1 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports
• 1 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet LAN port

Edit: i should have refreshed the page before writing my reply:)

i5-13500T - looks quite interesting

Do you think this motherboard will be suitable for TrueNAS or Proxmox if I decide to virtualize TrueNAS at some point?

 

[DigitalMinimalist]

Do you think this motherboard will be suitable for TrueNAS or Proxmox if I decide to virtualize TrueNAS at some point?

Why should it not be suitable?

Both will work well - Proxmox, or TrueNAS Scale as Hypervisor depends on your Software setup.

I run Proxmox on HP T620+ with 16GB RAM Thin Client (soon on a M720q with 9500T and 64GB) as Hypervisor with OPNSense, PiHole, Omada, Home Assistant and a TrueNAS Scale (TNS) Fileserver with a few apps.

24/7 Proxmox Hypervisor is around 15W and Fileserver (X470D4U with 2700X, 64GB ECC, 5xNVME, 4x16TB HDD, 10Gbit SFP+ NIC) is at 80W, but shuts down overnight (and wakes up in the morning automatically).

Nice addition: I run Proxmox Backup Server as VM in TNS to backup Proxmox VMs and LXC automatically

 

[DigitalMinimalist]

i5-13500T

Take the normal one:
T CPUs consume less watt when at full load (with reduced performance), but idle is identical

 

[impovich]

Why should it not be suitable?

Perhaps there might be some issues with LAN drivers.
Additionally, I came across the Supermicro X13SAZ-F motherboard (https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/x13saz-f), which appears to be a newer model.

 

[DigitalMinimalist]

Looks better suited as it has 2x 2.5GBit Intel NIC.

I try to stick to Intel NICs due to compatibility

If AM4 is an option: Gigabyte MC12 from Germany for 60€ + AM4 CPU + ECC RAM

Gigabyte Mainboard MC12-LE0 Re1.0 AMD B550 AM4 Ryzen 5000 4000 3000 Server Board NEU / NEW

GIGABYTE Mainboard für AMD Ryzen 5000 Series / 4000 Series / 3000 Series P/N: MC12-LE0 Rev 1 x microATX (W244 x D244 mm) NEW / NEU Tec

www.piospartslap.de

 

[impovich]

I remember it was not possible to pass through the iGPU using a motherboard with the C242 chipset. I'm curious to know if it is possible to pass through the iGPU using the X13SAZ-F, which features the R680E chipset. I have come across success stories for the W628, but not for the R680E.

 

[Whattteva]

I appreciate your suggestion! Since my rack is placed in the attic, I'm particularly keen on motherboards with IPMI for remote management capabilities and 2/4 LAN ports. Thanks for the recommendation!

Just so you're aware. IPMI, while convenient, will add a decent amount of power consumption (I think ~15-20W?).

 

[ChrisRJ]

The first thing I would do is understand which component consumes how much power. Simple remove the component and measure before and after that.

It appears that you have a separate HBA while the board seems to have 10 SATA ports. Why is that? You did not specify exactly which and how many drives you have. Those also have considerable impact.

In total I would take a step back and first determine whether the board is actually the culprit here.

 

[Whattteva]

The first thing I would do is understand which component consumes how much power. Simple remove the component and measure before and after that.

It appears that you have a separate HBA while the board seems to have 10 SATA ports. Why is that? You did not specify exactly which and how many drives you have. Those also have considerable impact.

In total I would take a step back and first determine whether the board is actually the culprit here.

Most likely because of this bit below. They'd need that separate HBA for passthrough if that's the case.

Do you think this motherboard will be suitable for TrueNAS or Proxmox if I decide to virtualize TrueNAS at some point?

 

[impovich]

Just so you're aware. IPMI, while convenient, will add a decent amount of power consumption (I think ~15-20W?).

Nope, about 10W :)

 

[impovich]

The first thing I would do is understand which component consumes how much power. Simple remove the component and measure before and after that.

It appears that you have a separate HBA while the board seems to have 10 SATA ports. Why is that? You did not specify exactly which and how many drives you have. Those also have considerable impact.

In total I would take a step back and first determine whether the board is actually the culprit here.

the attic becomes excessively hot during the summer, prompting me to purchase an air conditioner for the rack. This air conditioner consumes 60-500 watts per hour. :) My ultimate goal is to eliminate the need for the rack entirely and instead create a single, lightweight server that can be placed elsewhere in the house. :)

I only require a PCIe slot for an HBA, hardware that enables the passthrough of the iGPU to Plex, as well as IPMI functionality.

 

[Vaikis_]

Perhaps there might be some issues with LAN drivers.
Additionally, I came across the Supermicro X13SAZ-F motherboard (https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/x13saz-f), which appears to be a newer model.

did you went with X13SAZ-F ?

 

[impovich]

did you went with X13SAZ-F ?

No. Ideally, I would like to get Asrock W680D4U, but it seems it is not available in retail and Asrock told me that there are no plans to produce it as of now.... So I might go with pro-ws-w680m-ace-se

 

[Nassi]

Are you using the original fans of the Supermicro case? These can use a surprising amount of electricity.

 

[ChrisRJ]

Are you using the original fans of the Supermicro case? These can use a surprising amount of electricity.

The same applies to my Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM industrial fans. I use them because I need static pressure and one of them can use a bit more than 6 Watts.

 

[impovich]

Are you using the original fans of the Supermicro case? These can use a surprising amount of electricity.

yes, but anyway if they altogether consume 20w it won't save the day if change them. Already bought fractal design node 804 for a future build.